A Dhaka court has sentenced four people including two staff members of Biman Bangladesh Airlines to 12 years in prison for smuggling out over 9 kg gold from Shahjalal International Airport.
Judge Bilkis Akter of the Metropolitan Special Tribunal-3 delivered the verdict in the presence of the convicts on Wednesday, reports bdnews24.com.
Along with two defendants already in jail, the other two who were out on bail were also sent to jail on the same day. Public prosecutor Abdullah Abu confirmed the information.
The four convicts are Biman Flight Catering Centre (BFCC) pantry men Khandaker Ruhul Amin and Shahinur Islam, and gold smuggling gang members Iftarul Alam Sarker and Riaj alias Amjad.
In addition to the imprisonment, they have also been fined Tk 40,000 each, in default of which they will have to serve six more months in jail, said Golam Nobi, a bench assistant of the tribunal.
Two accused Ruhul Amin and Shahinur Islam were produced before court, while the remaining two on bail, Iftarul Alam Sarker and Riaj alias Amjad appeared at court before the verdict was announced.
After the verdict, the tribunal sent the four into jail.
According to the case documents, members of Dhaka Customs House recovered 9.28 kg gold worth Tk 46.4 million from the toilet of the plane at Shahjalal International Airport on Mar 15, 2018.
They arrested Ruhul Amin and Shahinur Islam for their involvement in gold smuggling.
Customs House Assistant Revenue Officer Remon Al-Rafi later filed a case with the Airport Police.
According to the case, Ruhul and Shahinur put the gold bars inside a tissue box in the toilet of flight BG-236 from Jeddah to Dhaka while on duty.
Customs authorities later recovered the gold on a tip-off.
On July 8, 2019, Mizanur Rahman, an inspector of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), pressed charges against four people.
The tribunal framed charges against them on Dec 13, 2020.
During the trial, 10 of the fourteen witnesses gave their depositions before the tribunal.
